Word of the Day: blockchain economy

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |April 16, 2018

blockchain economy The blockchain economy is a scenario and potential future environment in which cryptocurrency replaces current monetary systems, potentially on a global basis. Although blockchain is most commonly associated with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, the technology is actually a decentralized database that keeps track of transactional data in a secure, verifiable and permanent manner. Essentially, a peer-to-peer (P2P) network is composed of thousands of untrusted parties that collaborate to create trusted, authoritative records that are irrevocable, and cannot be changed. No central authority is required to validate the accuracy of transactional records; instead, trust is established and maintained through consensus within the network. This has profound implications for the future of banking and the exchange of digital value. Blockchain's peer-to-peer system of exchange is inherently democratic, based on shared ownership and equality among participants rather than a central authority that is seeking to profit from users of the system. Because P2P transactions through blockchain don't require the help of an intermediary, it lowers the cost of each transaction. Additionally, the consensus algorithms used to validate the accuracy of the distributed ledger make blockchain much less vulnerable to fraud and cybercrime than conventional banking systems.   Blockchain's digital democratization is also expected to foster another emerging aspect of the blockchain economy, machine-to-machine (M2M) transactions. In this scenario, machines will use blockchain to become autonomous market participants with their own bank accounts. Before long, it's expected that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will allow machines in the Internet of Things (IoT) to be able to lease themselves out, schedule and pay for their own maintenance, purchase their own replacement parts and keep their own transactional records, using blockchain. Quote of the Day "The immutability of the blockchain record makes this a very attractive solution for some of the most data secure organizations in the world, including supply chains, financial services, healthcare and governments." - Bill Fearnley   Trending Terms distributed ledger peer-to-peer Bitcoin cryptocurrency sharing economy collaborative consumption   Learning Center Cisco eyes blockchain messaging for better security Vendors, including Cisco, are hoping blockchain messaging can offer more security than the traditional encryption used for group communications. Blockchain not a panacea for supply chain traceability, transparency The hype around blockchain says it's the perfect tool to ensure supply chain traceability and transparency. We asked the experts to weigh in. Blockchain payroll systems coming to HR tech Blockchain payroll systems are coming, according to major HR tech vendors that have teams working on and evaluating blockchain applications. Startups are also marketing payroll and payments systems that use the new technology. However, some observers are skeptical. IDC says supply chain 'killer' among blockchain use cases Supply chain is one of the most important blockchain use cases, according to an IDC analyst, and the second chapter of this third-platform technology is underway. Blockchain implementation: Connecting the missing DLT links Jeffrey Ritter discusses two questions companies should ask to take data governance advantage of a blockchain implementation and distributed ledger technologies, Writing for Business Many organizations don't give encryption a thought until they suffer a data _______. A. breach B. breech Answer   Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.